Combined propelling and steering mechanism for velocipedes



M. WAGNER.

CQMBINED PROPELLING AND STEERING MECHANISM EOR VELOCIPEDES APPLICATIONFILEDMAY'IG' 192!- 1,420,791.

PatentedJune 27 3 8440001, MfjZ/d Wag/zen weaver.

sires-arrest MANGOLD WAGNER, 0F SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

COMBINED PROPELLING AND STEERING lwIECHANISM FOR VELOCIPEDES.

Application filed my 16,

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MANGOLD WAGNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Combined Propelling andSteering Mechanism for Velocipedes, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in combined propelling and Steeringmechanism for velocipedes, toys and the like, and the object of myinvention is to provide a combined velocipede propelling and steeringmechanism. which is adapted to be actuated by the lateral rocking orswaying movements of the rider of'the velocipede to thus propel thelatter in a forward or backward direction as desired and found eXpeclient. I

Another object is to provide a combined velocipede propellingandsteering mechanism, which mechanism when actuated will propel thevelocipede in a zigzag manner in a forward or backward direction, andwhich is specially adaptable and desirable for use with certain types oftoys such astoy boats, toy ostriches and the like, to thereby producelife like movements during the propelling of the same.

A further object is to provide a combined velocipede propelling andsteering mecha-' nism embodying novel eccentric driving means wherebythe rocking of the velocipede by the rider will actuate said drivingmeans to thus propel the velocipede in a forward or backward direction.

A still further object is to provide a com-- hined propelling andsteering mechanism embodying novel resilient control means adapted tocontrol the action of the eccentric driving means of said mechanism, tothus ca ry said eccentric driving means over the dead centers during theforward or back-= ward movement of-the velocipede, and which is furtheradapted to regulate the laterally directed forces exerted bythe riderof: said velocipede, to thus assist and act as an impelling force topropel said velocipede.

A still further object is to provide a combined velocipede propellingand steering mechanism embodying novel steering means Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented June 2'2, 11922.

1921. Serial No. 469,818. i

in combination. with resilient control means of said mechanism, whichsteering means is adapted to maintain and retain the velocipedesubstantially in the general direction desired by the rider during theforward or backward movement of said velocipede.

. A still further object is to provide a combined velocipede propellingand steering mechanism embodying simplicity, durability and economy inconstruction, that is positive and efficient in operation and that willnot readily, get out of order. A

\Vith the above and other objects in view which will'appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention resides :in the novel con-.struction, combination, adaptation and arrangement of parts hereinafterdescribed and claimed. 7

I accomplish these objects by devices illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein Figure 1 is a top plan View of a veloci pede in theform of a toy boat embodying the'features and principles of myinvention, which toy. boat is shown in an inoperative position in fulllinesand in its left hand operative position in dot and dash lines,

iug broken away to more clearly illustrate.

the features of my steering mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a view in front end elevation of the toy boat in aninoperativeposition, parts being broken away to illustrate'the method ofmounting the eccentric wheels of. the propelling mechanism on theirassociated shaft; Fig. 4: is'a similar view o'fthe toy boatillustratingthe latter with its associated propelling mechanism in its left handoperative position, wvhich position corresponds to that shown in dot anddash lines in Fig.1; 1 Fig. 5 is a view in fragmentary transversesection of the steering wheel of the resilient control mechanism of thetoy boat, and

Fig. 6 is a view in fragmentary trans verse section taken on a brokenline 6, 6 of Fig. 2. Referring to the drawings, throughout which likereference numerals designate like parts, and in which I have shown mycombined propelling and steering mechanism as operatively disposed upona toy boat 10, which boat may be fabricated from wood or other suitableand desired material and in any predetermined or selected shape or form.

The boat 10 is provided adjacent its rear end thereof with atransversely disposed seat 11, which seat is adapted to be fixedlysecured to the side walls of said boat in any well known or suitablemanner.

Transversely and longitudinally disposed in spaced apart relation withrespect to the inner face of the bottom wall 12 of the boat 10 to thusform and provide a compartment 18 therebetween is a foot plate 14%,which foot plate is adapted to be fixedly s curedadjacent its rear endthereof to said inner face of said bottom wall 12 at point substantiallymidway of the length of said wall as by countersink bolts 15.

Fixedly secured in any well known manner to the outer surfaces of theside walls of the boat 10 adjacent the rear end and lower portionthereof are bosses 16, which bosses are adapted to be disposed in axialalignment with respect to each other. The axial. line or axes of saidbosses being normally disposed in fixed perpendicular or transverserelation with respect to the axis of the boat 10 as will be readilyapparent by referring to the several views of the drawings.

concentrically disposed and rotatively mounted in the bosses 16 is ashaft 17, which shaft is adapted to be supported by hearings or bushings18 operatively disposed in the bosses 16, as shown in Fig. 3. If desiredthe bearings 18 may be of the ball bearings or any other knownanti-friction type to thereby minimize friction as will be readilyunderstood.

Eccentrically disposed upon the shaft 17 adjacent to the outer endsthereof and fixedly secured thereto as by keys 19, are eccentric drivingwheels 20, which wheels may be formed of wood or other suitable anddesired material.

In the present construction I have illustrated the driving wheels 20 asbeing formed of wood in which case I provide metallic flanged hubmembers 21, which hub mem bers are adapted to be eccentrically disposedin the wheels 20 and are further adapted to concentrically and fixedlyreceive the outer ends of the shaft 17 and the keys 19, as shown moreclearly in Fig. 3. The said hub members are adapted to be fixedlysecured in their eccentric positions on the inner faces of said drivingwheels 20 as by screws 22.

To positively retain the wheels 20 on their associated shaft 17 Iprovide securing nuts 23 and washers 24, which nuts 23 are adapted tothreadably engage the outer ends of said shaft, while the washers 24kare adapted to be interposed between said nuts and the wheels 20, asshown in Fig. 3.

To prevent undue and excessive wear of the wheels 20 upon the outer endsof the bosses 16 I provide spacing washers 25, which washers are adaptedto be interposed between said wheels 20 and said bosses 16.

To regulate and control the action of the eccentric driving wheels 20and to steer the boat 10, to thereby maintain said boat in substantiallythe general direction desired by the rider, 1 provide a combinedresilient control and steering mechanism comprising a flanged bushing orsleeve 26, an annular disk or plate 27, a stub shaft or ournal 28, anarm 29 an oscillating bracket or member 30 having outwardly anddownwardly extending portions 31, a fixed shaft 82, a rotative andreciprocative wheel 33, a tension spring 3:), cords 36, sheaves orpulleys 3?, hand. holds 88, and tension devices 39.

The flanged bushing 26 is adapted to be medially and vertically disposedin the bottom wall 12 of the boat 10 at a point substantially midway ofthe length thereof and to be retained and fixedly secured thereinagainst circumferential and axial movement through the medium of theannular disk 27 and one of the bolts 15 at its rear end and by acountersunk bolt 40 at its forward end, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2.

The stub shaft 28 is adapted to be in tegrally formed or otherwisefixedly secured to the upper face of the oscillatory bracket 30, saidstub shaft being further adapted to be concentrically and rotativelydisposed in the bushing 26 and to extend upwardly therethrough toreceive the rear end of the arm 29, which arm is adapted to be fixedlysecured to the upper end of said stub shaft as by a pin 41, to therebyprevent axial movement of said shaft within the bush ing 26.

The upper face of the oscillatory bra het is adapted to normally abutthe lower face of the flanged bushing 26 in such manner to readilypermit of the free oscillatory movement of the bracket 30 relative tothe bushing 26. lf desired ball or roller bearings may be interposedbetween said upper face of the bracket 30 and said lower of the bushing26, to thus minimize the tion therebetween. he outwardly and downwardlyextendinnportions 31 of the oscillatorybracket 30 a re adapted to beformed integrally or otherwise fixedly secured in diametrical relationon said bracket and are further adapted to be normally retained intransverse relation with respect to the boat 10.

The shaft 32 is normally disposed in transverse relation with respect tothe boat 10 and is adapted to be fixedly secured in fa fri the outwardlyand downwardly extending portions 31 adjacent its ends thereof by pins42, to thus positively insure againstaxial or circumferential movementof said shaft relative to the portions 31.

The rotative and reciprocative wheel 33.

is adapted. to be mounted upon. the fixed shaft 32 for rotation and.reciprocation thereon and tobe constructed substantially inthe shape andform shown in transverse section in Fig; 5.

To positively insure against and prevent.

the wheel 33 from becoming jammed or locked upon the shaft 32 during therocking movement of the boat 10 and the consequent reciprocations ofsaidnvheel. on said shaft, I preferwto form saidwheel with a relativelylong hub portion, to thus provide a large bearing surface between sa1dwheel.

andsaid shaft, and to minimize the friction between. the wheel 33 andthe shaft 32, I

each side ofthe wheel 33, to thus maintain and retain said wheel 33 in anormal longitudinally central or midposition uponthe shaft 32, as shownin Fig. 3.

The tension spring 35 is adapted to be fixedly secured at its rear endto the forward end of the arm 29, and tobe similarly secured at itsforward end'to a stud44, which stud is adapted'to be medially disposedand threadably engaged in the bottom wall 12 adjacent the forwardendthereof. The said tension spring 35 is adapted to normally maintain thearm 29 in longitudinal medial alignment with respect to the axis of theboat 10 and to also normally maintain the oscillatory bracket 30 inperpendicular relation to the axis of said boat, substantially as shownin the several views of the drawings, and as will be readily understood.

The cords 36 are adapted to be fixedly attached or secured at theirforwardends to the sides of the forward end of the arm 29 and at theirrear ends are adapted to be similarly attached tothe forward ends of thehand holds 38, to thus operatively connect said arm 29 and the said handholds 38.

The cords 36 are further adapted to extend in lateral or sidewisedirections from each side of the arm 29 and'to pass over the sheaves 37and to then extend rearwardly and upwardly along the sides of the boat10 to the hand hold 38 through openings 45 formed in the foot plate 14as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The sheaves 37 are adapted to be rotatively mounted in any. well knownmanner upon bosses 46, which bosses 46 are adapted to be formed integralwith or otherwise fiX- edly secured to the-inner or under side of thefoot plate 1.4, as shown in Fig. 2.

The hand. holds 38 are formed substantially in the 'semiftubular shapeshown in.

Fig. 5 and are adapted to be slidably disposedupon the gunwales 47 of,the boat 10, the said semi-tubular shape insuring of; the

proper operative engagen'ient. and retention of the hand holds 38 on thegunwales 47. If.

desired said hand holds 38 may also be formed of. suitable resilientmaterial. to-stillg further assure of their engagement and re tention onsaidgunwales.

The tension devices 39' are adapted: to maintain. and. retainv the handholds 38 intheir inoperative position. as shown 1n Figs.

1. and. 2, to thereby maintain the cords 36 normally tantin order that.the slightest movement of the handholdsi38 will be transmittedto theoscillatory member 30with the minimum of lost mot-ion during thesteering operation of the boat 10, as will be readily apparent.

The tension. devices 39 comprise, tubular casings 48, rods 49 and.springs 50.

The tubular casings48 are adapted to be secured in any. well. knownmanner to the inner walls of the sides of: the boat 10 adjacent the rearendand upper. portions thereof at a: point. contiguous to the hand holds38 and'the gunwales 47.

The forward. ends of the rods 49 are adapted to be fixedly, secured byrivets 51 to the rear: ends of the handiholds 38 while the rear ends ofsaidrods 49 are adapted to project intoiand to be normally disposedwithin the tubular casings 48. Said rear ends are provided with disks52, which disks are slidably disposed in saidftubular casings.

The-springs. 50 are adapted to be operatively disposed within thetubular casings 48 and} to he interposed'between.the front.

and rear end walls, of said tubular casings andthe front and'rearsidesof'the disks 52, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, to thus mainta n thehand'holds 38 in their said inoperative position and the cords 36 inataut condition as will be obvious.

In the present construction I' have shown the arm 29 and its'associatedmechanism as being disposed within the compartment 13 formed by thebottom wall 12] of the boat. 10- and the foot plate 14, which footplate, serves as abrace for the'riders feet and av protection therefromfor said mechanism while alsoserving t'oprevent unauthorized theslopingrear portion of the foot plate 14v and grasps the hand holds 38firmly.

Assuming the mechanism to be in the horizontal dead center position asillustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. To move or travel in a forwarddirection the rider applies and exerts his force in a lateral directionto the left to thus rock the boat 10 in that direction to thereby carrythe eccentric driving wheels 20 over their horizontal dead centers,thereby moving the boat 10 in a forward direction substantially to theangular or oscillated position to the left as shown in dot and dashlines in Fig. l and in full lines in Fig. 4:.

As the boat 10 assumes or moves to the said angular position, the wheel33 having frictional engagement with the ground the axis of the saidwheel will assume an angular position relative to the normal plane ofthe ground line while remaining substantially in perpendicular relationwith respect to the axis of the boat 10, as shown in Fig. 4.

During the above mentioned forward movement of the boat 10 to the leftthe wheel 33 will be simultaneously rotated and reciprocated on' itsassociated fixed shaft 32, said wheel being rotated on said shaft byreason of its frictional engagement with the ground and beingreciprocated on said shaft to the right by the tendency of said wheel 33to move forwardly in. a substantially straight line in the directiondesired by the rider due to said frictional engagement.

As the wheel 33 is reciprocated to the right the spring 34: on the rightside of said wheel is compressed to thereby store up power or energywithin the same, as will be readily apparent by referring to Fig. 1-,which shows the same operation in the opposite direction.

The rider then applies and exerts his force in a lateral direction tothe right, to thus rock the boat 10 in that direction, to thereby carrythe eccentric driving wheels 20 over their vertical dead centers thuscausing the boat 10 to move forwardly an amount substantially equal tothe initial movement of the same, said last forward movement causing theboat 10 to assume an angular position to the right which position is thereverse from that shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 1 and in fulllines in Fig. 4.

During this last mentioned forward movement of the boat 10, the wheel 33is simultaneously rotated and reciprocated to the left on its associatedfixed shaft 32 to thus compress the spring 3% on the left therebystoring up energy therein. The energy previously stored up in the spring34 on the right being simultaneously utilized during this movement incontrolling the action of the eccentric driving wheels 20 to carry thesame over their dead centers and to expedite the reciprocatory movementof the wheel 33 to the left on its associated shaft 32 as will bereadily apparent.

The rider then continues to apply his force and exert his energyalternately to the left and right to thus attain the desired speed; thecontinuous rotation of the eccentric wheels 20; the continuoussimultaneous rotation and reciprocation of the wheel 33 on itsassociated shaft 32; and the consequent alternate compression of thesprings 3 to thereby maintain the continuous forward movement of theboat 10.

It will be apparent that the speed attained and maintained by the boat10 will be d' "ectly proportional to the energy exerted by the rider.

It will also be apparent that to propel the boat 10 in a backwarddirection assum ing the boat 10 to be in the position shown in Fig. 2the initial rocking movement of the rider in this case will be to theright as will be obvious from the foregoing.

The eccentric driving wheels 20 being fixedly secured on theirassociated shaft 17, are simultaneously rotated, when the boat 10 isrocked to thus propel said boatin a zigzag manner in the directiondesired a predetermined distance lt'or each rocking movement given saidboat by the rider.

The amount of the predetermined distance which the boat 10 will travelin the desired direction being fixed by the amount of angular deviationof the boat 10 fro-m a normally straight line, the amount of saidangular deviation being fixed by the amount of eccentricity of thewheels 20.

ns hereinbefore described the boat 10 travels in the desired directionin a zigzag manner through the action of its associated propellingmechanism thereby producing the desired effect and result and conveyingor giving the observer the impression of a boat riding on a choppy orrough sea.

The boat 10 is steered by the rider manipulating or sliding the handholds 33 on the guuwales L7 to thereby operate and oscillate the bracket30 and its associated mechanism in the direction desired as will bereadily understood. by re ferring to the foregoing description and theaccompanying drawings.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings the advantages of the construction and of the method ofoperation of my combined velocipede propelling and steering mechanismwill be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which myinvention pertains to thus enable those skilled to construct and operatethe same, but, while I have shown and described the construction andoperation of a combined propelling and steering mechanism embodying thefeatures and principles of my invention, which I now consider to be thebest embodiment thereof, which combined propelling and steeringmechanism is adaptable for installation on and for use with any of thewell known types of velocipedes I desire to have it understood that thecombined propelling and steering mechanism shown is merely illustrativeand that such changes may be made when desired as are within the scopeof the invention and embodied in the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. A combined velocipede propelling and steering mechanism comprisingeccentric driving means; steering means; resilient control means forsaid eccentric driving means carried by said steering means; and meansto yieldingly retain said steering means in a medial position.

2. A combined velocipede propelling and steering mechanism comprisingeccentric driving means; steering means; resilient control means forsaid eccentric driving means carried by said steering means; means toyieldingly retain said steering means in a medial position; andactuating means for said steering means.

3. A combined velocipede propelling and steering mechanism comprising aplurality of eccentric driving wheels mounted for synchronous rotationon said velocipede; oscillatory steering means mounted on saidvelocipede; resilient control means for said eccentric driving wheelscarried by saidoscillatory steering means; means to yieldingly retainsaid oscillatory steering means in a medial position; actuating meansfor said oscillatory steering means; and tension control means for saidactuating means.

4. A combined velocipede propelling and steering mechanism comprisingeccentric driving means; steering means; resilient control means forsaid eccentric driving means carried by said steering means; means toyieldingly retain said steering means in a medial position; actuatingmeans for said steering means; and tension means for said actuatingmeans.

5. A combined velocipede propelling and steering mechanism comprising aplurality of eccentric driving wheels mounted for synchronous rotationon said velocipede; an oscillatory bracket mounted for oscillation onsaid velocipede; a rotative and reciprocative wheel carried by saidbracket; resilient control means for said eccentric driving means andsaid rotative and reciprocative wheel carried by said bracket; means toyieldingly retain said bracket in a medial position; and tension controlmeans for said actuating means.

6. A combined velocipede propelling and steering mechanism comprising ashaft rotatively mounted in said velocipede; a plu-' rality of eccentricdriving wheels secured on said shaft; an oscillatory bracket mounted foroscillation on said velocipede; outwardly and downwardly extendingportions on said bracket; a fixed shaft adapted to to be secured in saidportions; a rotative and reciprocative wheel mounted for rotation andreciprocation on said fixed shaft; compression MANGOLD WAGNER.

